Page 30 of The Criminal’s Cure

As the week goes on, things get easier with Ty.

He’s far less anxious in the mornings, and when he comes home in the afternoons, he’s excited to regale Maddie and I with all the new first grade drama.

It’s good to see him back in his element; a way I haven’t really seen him since before his mom died.

He’s slowly coming out of his shell again, and I’m painfully aware that we have Maddie to thank for that.

She’s so goddamn good with him that it’s almost irritating.

I’ve been at this parent thing much longer than she has, but she makes it look easy.

She has a very special way about it, and it’s why she’s such a great doctor, too.

People trust her. They believe her when she says it’s going to be okay. They feel safe with her.

Safe isn’t something I thought I’d ever feel. With a list of enemies a mile long, we never truly are, but it isn’t physical safety that Maddie provides. She makes my heart and soul feel safe, and that’s something completely new to me.

And she does the same for Ty. He’s carried that little marble around with him all week, and regardless of whether or not her story was true, it’s gospel to him now. I even found him clutching it in his fingers while he slept the other night.

“Ready to go, Bud?” I call, grabbing his backpack off of the table.

Maddie went to work early, so I was a little apprehensive about how this morning might go. I have a meeting I absolutely can’t be late for and a full day of work, so I’m happy to see Ty bouncing down the stairs dressed and ready.

“Yep!” He grins. He takes his backpack from me and slings it over his shoulder.

He follows me to the truck and we’re off. He’s in control of the music on our way, and it wrecks me in the best way to look in my rear-view mirror and see him dancing along to each song.

“Did you remember to put money in my backpack? Thursdays are school store days.”

Shit. “No, I didn’t.” I reach into my pocket, fishing for my wallet. Pulling out a couple of bills, I hand it to him, and he unzips his backpack to put it in.

“Thanks Daddy! See you after school!”

Ty opens the door and jumps out, backpack still halfway unzipped. When he takes off, a piece of paper falls out.

“Hey, Ty! Wait!” I call, but it’s too late. I pick the paper up and take a look at it, expecting it to be some newsletter or permission slip.

But it’s not, and suddenly my heart stops.

It’s a picture. One of me, Ty, and Maddie from the zoo last weekend. There are two big red x’s drawn across Maddie and Ty, and scrawled across the top are the words, “I’m coming for you.”

A furious rage blind me as I throw my truck into gear and head toward the office. If this fell out of Ty’s backpack, it means this bastard was in our house. This is pointed and brazen, and he’s getting too cocky for his own good. He needs to be stopped.

“Alright, my turn,” Joe says, taking a spot at the end of the table. He and Dante are playing some form of table football and it only infuriates me more. What the hell are these two morons thinking when this guy is still out there and tormenting my family?

“We’ve got a problem.” I slam the picture down on the table between them.

“Good morning to you, too.” Dante chuckles.

Sweeping my arm across the table and knocking everything off, I leave no question as to how serious I am. “This motherfucker was in my house. Someone dropped the ball. I found this in Ty’s backpack this morning.”

Now I’ve got their attention. Joe’s face folds and he picks up the picture.

“I’m coming for you.” He repeats what is written on the picture, color draining from his face. “Did Ty see this?”

“I don’t think so. It fell out in the truck this morning.” I suck in a loaded breath, steadying myself against the rim of the table. “This has to end. I don’t want Ty to live in fear.”

“How do you know he got into the house? We’ve had security doubled the last few weeks.” Joe hands the picture to Dante. “It could have happened while Ty was at school or even when he and Maddie were at the park or something.”

“And that makes it better?” I growl.

“Of course not. I’m just saying we should keep some perspective here.

Everything has been on lock down since the shooting and it doesn't mean we’ve got a hole somewhere.

” He’s right, but blaming my own guys feels safer.

I know them. I can control them. This guy is a wild card, and knowing he was close enough to Ty to slip this into his backpack has me feeling reckless.

I see the apprehensive exchange between Dante and Joe and know I’m going to hate whatever it is they’re about to say.

“Look, Roman, don’t take this the wrong way, but the only person who has been in and out of your house a lot who isn’t usually there…

is Maddie. Are you sure this isn’t something to do with her? ”

“Of course it’s not,” I snap, nearly lunging across the table at him. I know how unhinged I’m acting, but I’m tired of this guy getting the better of us, while my team floats around theories that Maddie might be involved.

“Easy,” Joe cautions. “I’m just saying we need to cover all our bases. How do you know she isn’t involved?”

“Because I was with her all weekend and whoever did this threatened her, too.” I toss the picture at him. “This started way before Maddie even came around. This came from whoever ordered the hits, and we need to figure out who.”

Joe nods. “Okay, what do you want to do?”

“Dante, get this to analytics and see what they can pull from it. Prints, ink type, anything.”

He takes the picture and disappears.

“I want someone at Ty’s school, right outside his classroom. Eyes on him at all times.”

“I’ll send someone right away,” Joe agrees. “And Maddie? You want protection for her, too?”

“Yes.” I run my fingers through my hair.

She’ll probably fight me on it, but this isn’t something I’m willing to risk.

Not when I know what’s at stake. “I don’t care what you have to do.

Make sure she doesn’t know anything is off until I can talk to her about it tonight.

Send Ernie and have him pose as a janitor or something. ”

“Got it.” Joe is immediately on the phone to put our guys in place.

With Joe and Dante handling the administration stuff, that leaves me free to spend some time with the Chavos member I’ve got in lock up. As much as I want to drag this out, I can’t wait on answers any longer.